English: Huichol distillery (Lumholtz Expedition to Mexico 1894-1897)

The Huichol name for a distillery is sai-at-sd-mi (Sp. taberna). The main part of it consists of a large jar (see cut, p. I2, b) in which the fermented stalks are cooked, and a smaller one (e) suspended inside of this to receive the condensed vapor. The jars, of course, vary somewhat in size in different distilleries, but the measurements given below are those of specimens which I brought back with me, and which well represent the ordinary type of the Huichol distillery.

The large jar measures 38 cm. in height, i cm. in thickness, and 33.5 cm. in diameter at the mouth; and it is made of rather coarse pottery-ware. The small jar measures I4 cm. in height by I8.5 cm. in diameter of mouth, and is made of similar material.

On top of the large jar are placed two, and sometimes three, solid rings (c) of straw (to-n -ku-li), one over the other, each 5.5 cm thick, which fit exactly over the brim, forming, so to speak, an 'elongated neck' to it. Round this jar with its 'elongated neck' is erected a mound-like structure of stone and mud, which holds the upper part of the jar firm, as well as the 'elongated neck,' but widens out toward the ground, forming a kind of oven (a) around the lower part of the jar. This oven has openings on either side to afford a draught for the fire. The jar does not rest on the ground, but on a medium-sized stone (g), thus increasing the draught, and facilitating the heating of the jar. The earth and mud not only hold the 'elongated neck' in place, but also rise some eighteen or twenty centimetres or more above it, forming a kind of funnel. Into this funnel the cooling-vessel (d) fits snugly, the bottom of it remaining some ten to twelve centimetres above the straw rings. The small jar (wi-vi-at-le-a-mi), or receptacle for the liquor, hangs down into the big one, suspended by two cords (f) of ixtie (yucca), which pass up along the sides of the cooler, and fall down outside over the mound. The cords are held in place solely by the pressure of the cooling-vessel against the sides of the mound.

Steam from the large jar condenses on the bottom of the cooler, which is kept filled with cold water, and falls in drops into the receiver below. That the steam may not escape round the cooling-vessel, the man in attendance plasters it round thickly with mud, and he now and then removes the cooler to see how the distillation is going on. When he finds that the receiver has become filled with liquor, he lifts it up, emnpties it into a large jar standing near, and then replaces it to receive more. He now puts the cooling-vessel in place again, plasters mud around it, and the distillation goes on as before. The liquor produced in this way is very rarely distilled a second time. It is therefore very watery, but not unpleasant to the taste. Used in considerable quantities, it is intoxicating, still it does not seem to do much harm to the constitution of the Huichols. The liquor is never kept long, and has to be made to order for any approaching feast.